3 recommended ramen in Asakusabashi

Ramen is a food that many visitors to Japan have eaten at least once. Japanese ramen is very popular overseas, and it is said that ramen is now more popular than sushi.
I have even seen some tourists visiting Japan who say that eating ramen is one of their several purposes for coming to Japan.
The reason for the popularity of Japanese ramen seems to be the wide variety of soups, including soy sauce, miso, salt, and tonkotsu (pork bone), and the high quality of the flavors. Some restaurants also allow you to choose the hardness or softness of the noodles, the thickness of the soup, etc., so you can find the ramen you like best.

There are several towns with many ramen shops, such as Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Akihabara, but this time we would like to introduce Asakusabashi, a town not often mentioned in guidebooks.
Asakusabashi is served by the Sobu and Asakusa lines, has direct access to Haneda and Narita airports, and is close to popular tourist spots such as Asakusa, Akihabara, and Ryogoku. It also has many accommodations and restaurants, making it a highly recommended town for travelers. In fact, Asakusabashi is also known as a town with many ramen shops, and Ippudo, which is popular even overseas, is located here.
In this issue, we will introduce three recommended ramen restaurants in Asakusabashi.

Yamakasa no ryu

Located right in front of the East Exit of JR Asakusabashi Station, just a 2 or 3 minute walk from the station and easy to find.
It is a restaurant of Hakata Ramen and Tonkotsu (pork bone) soup.
Tonkotsu ramen features a cloudy white soup made by simmering pork bones from various parts of the pig for a long time, and the noodles are thin. The soup has a distinctive smell, but the flavor of the ramen is light but rich, and it goes very well with the thin noodles.
If you add a little red ginger, which is placed on the table, the taste changes to an even more refreshing one. Be careful not to add too much red ginger, as it has a strong sour taste.
Another feature of tonkotsu ramen is that you can order more noodles (called “baidama”) for a fee.
If one bowl of ramen is not enough for you, please try the “bi-dama” option.

There is a sign in front of the restaurant with pictures and explanations in English, so please refer to it when choosing your menu.

When you enter the restaurant, first purchase a ticket for the ramen you want to order from the ticket machine. If you would like to order a double portion of ramen, please purchase a ticket for a double portion of ramen at the same time. When purchasing a ticket from the ticket machine, only cash is accepted.
Many restaurants do not accept 10,000 yen bills, so it is recommended that you prepare 1,000 yen bills and coins in advance. If you only have 10,000 yen bills, ask the store staff to exchange them for you.
The ramen in the photo is Ajitama Ramen.
The ingredients are ajitama, kikurage, chashu pork, and green onions.
Ajitama are seasoned boiled eggs. The kikurage is a mushroom with a crunchy texture.The cloudy white-colored soup is light but rich, and goes very well with the thin noodles, which I ate very quickly. If you don’t mind the smell, you can also add a little garlic. If you order a double portion, be careful not to drink it up, as the noodles will be added to this soup.

Ippudo is one of the most popular tonkotsu ramen restaurants overseas, but if you have come all the way to Japan, you should definitely try tonkotsu ramen other than Ippudo.

Yamakasa No Ryu
1-13-5 Yanagibashi, Taito-ku, Tokyo
TEL: 03-5825-4391
Business hours: 11:00 – 04:00
https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1311/A131103/13192824/

 
 

Noodle Bouzu n-Bo

It is a five-minute walk from JR Asakusabashi Station.
Soy sauce ramen is popular here, but they also have mazesoba, which is equally popular.
We would like to introduce the mazesoba. This restaurant also has a ticket machine inside the restaurant, so you purchase your ticket first. There are many types of mazesoba, so if you are not sure, ask the waiter.

The name of the mazesoba is also unusual: it is called “Mazesobaan Niboshicho. You will be surprised at the beautiful presentation of the dish, which will make you want to take a picture of it. Then, you will be further surprised by the unique color of the soup.
This is because this gray soup is made from plenty of niboshi (dried sardines).
Don’t worry, it tastes very delicious.
The ingredients are two kinds of chashu pork, onions, kaiware, and green onions. It is a shame to waste the beautifully arranged ingredients, but mix them all well before eating.
The aroma of dried sardines spreads and the taste is rich and delicious.
The noodles are medium-thick and well mixed with the niboshi broth and have a sticky texture that is also very tasty.

There are no photos of the shoyu ramen, but the shoyu ramen features a clean but deep broth made from a blend of seven different types of soy sauce and dashi made from carefully selected ingredients such as dried bonito flakes, dried sardines, shiitake mushrooms, and kombu seaweed. Please try this one as well.

Noodle Bouzu n-Bo
1F Musashiya Building, 1-33-5 Asakusabashi, Taito-ku, Tokyo
TEL: 03-6822-7970
Business hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday:
Lunch time 11:00 – 14:45
Dinner time: 18:00 – 21:00
Sat 11:00 – 15:00
Closed: Sunday
https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1311/A131103/13259097/

 
 

Rokugetsu

This popular restaurant is located in Asakusabashi, a 5-minute walk from JR Asakusabashi Station.
It is a pork shiratsu ramen restaurant. Pork Hakodate Ramen is the restaurant’s original soup, a thick broth made mainly from pork gengkotsu (pork bones) and heads, which are simmered for three days. It is similar to tonkotsu ramen, in which pork bones are simmered for a long time, but it does not have the smell of tonkotsu ramen and is not cloudy in color. When you try it, you will find that it tastes completely different from ramen.

The ramen in the photo is Pork Shiratsuyu Ramen.The ingredients are chashu pork and green onion.The soup is thick, rich and creamy. It is very tasty and goes well with the slightly thin noodles.
The noodles are also made with roasted embryo buds that have a strong aroma so that they do not lose out to the rich soup.

If you like tonkotsu ramen, you should definitely try this pork shiratsu ramen.

Rokugetsu
NY Bldg. 1F, 2-4-5 Asakusabashi, Taito-ku, Tokyo
TEL: 080-2142-8324
Hours of operation:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Lunch time 11:00 – 14:30 (L.O. 14:15)
Dinner time 18:00 – 20:00 (L.O. 19:45)
Sat.
11:00 – 14:30 (L.O. 14:15)
Closed: Sun. and national holidays
https://www.instagram.com/rokutuki/